Lynne YelichConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development

Mr. Speaker, this pilot project was more focused than the former one. The regions that have seen significant improvement in their labour market situations since the launch of the previous one are the regions that have been included in this new pilot project.

Mr. Speaker, during the last election campaign, the Conservative Party promised to give back to the farmers of Mirabel 11,000 acres of expropriated land. This is in line with the motion they had supported one year earlier. However, we have reason to fear that the Conservative government is about to renege on that promise by returning only a portion of that land.

Can the minister make a firm commitment, to the Mirabel farmers and former owners of expropriated land, to give back all of the 11,000 acres promised?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, before the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, I had the opportunity to answer my hon. colleague's question. I indicated at the committee that we are in the midst of discussions, not only with Montreal airport authorities, but also with the people affected.

I also said that we would make our announcements and conclude these discussions by the end of the summer.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out to the minister that the promise made by the Conservatives was that no more and no less than 11,000 acres would be returned to the farmers.

Can the minister promise here today that he will go ahead and return the 11,000 acres, in good faith and without any tricks, to the Mirabel farmers and former owners of expropriated land, as promised by the Conservative Party?

Mr. Speaker, I understand my colleague's eagerness to get things done. Obviously, in the course of his term and that of the Bloc Québécois, he asked many questions on this topic. We are working very hard on this file in an attempt to bring it to a successful conclusion. The Canadian government has taken on this role and it is the mandate of the Conservative members from Quebec. We resolve files, which is something the Bloc Québécois has never managed to do.

Mr. Speaker, after trying to dismiss the Kelowna accord as a fiction during the public accounts committee meeting yesterday, the member for Prince Albert insinuated that the first nations' quality of life was not an issue of resources or in his words “money”. First nations' problems were that they were living in some sort of “Marxist paradise”.

Will the Prime Minister, whose office is called “The Kremlin” by his own members, send the member to the gulag to join his fellow spewer of degrading comments toward our first nations, the member for Saskatoon—Wanuskewin?

Mr. Speaker, the government is not going to accept another smear on a member with comments taken out of context. If that member reads in context the remarks of the member in question, he may realize that he was speaking sarcastically out of frustration in a comment about 13 years of Liberal failure of our aboriginal people.

I would invite him to show a little contrition for the total failure of his government to deliver for Canada's aboriginal men and women.

Mr. Speaker, we are not buying those glass beads. With the slash and burn of Kelowna, the Conservatives showed their true faces.

The member for Saskatoon—Wanuskewin blamed natives, who died of exposure when dumped outside of city boundaries. Now the member for Prince Albert shows what Conservatives take for sarcastic humour with his “Marxist paradise” and “you can't scalp me, I haven't much hair” comments. It is time the Saskatchewan neo-cons learned that our first nations are deserving of respect, not derision.

When will the Prime Minister instruct his Saskatchewan Conservatives to stop acting like Harperians?

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member said yesterday, “The aboriginals don't have things that everybody else takes for granted, like freedom of choice to do things in life, ownership of property and so on”. He was speaking out of frustration about the former government's total failure.

However, speaking of scalping and glass beads, perhaps that member could apologize for former Prime Minister Chrétien who said in 1990, “I was the only Minister of Indian Affairs to have survived six years while managing to keep my scalp”.

Mr. Speaker, I think that the hon. member comes nowhere near to measuring up to former Prime Minister Chrétien when it comes to aboriginal affairs.

The Conservatives, including the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, are making a pathetic attempt to rewrite history by denying that funding for the Kelowna accord was already granted. The member for Edmonton—St. Albert went so far as to deny that the accord even existed. Now, to make matters even worse, the member for Prince Albert has made an unacceptable comment to the effect that aboriginal people are living in a “Marxist paradise”. None of the Conservative members has condemned these remarks.

Are we to understand that the Prime Minister agrees with these disgusting remarks, and is this the Conservative government's new policy?

Mr. Speaker, what we do not agree with is the Liberal government's total failure with respect to Canada's aboriginal peoples, a failure that has left thousands of people living in deprivation and poverty. That is why the hon. member used strong language, because of his frustration with the Liberal Party's failure with respect to aboriginal peoples.

Mr. Speaker, there is absolutely no reason for intolerant remarks and for considering people as second-class citizens. Aboriginal Canadians are first-class citizens and deserve our respect.

Will the Prime Minister do the honourable thing? We know that he is stubborn and arrogant. He has an opportunity to prove to use that he learns from his mistakes. Will he insist that, at the next meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the vice-chair do the only honourable thing and resign?

Mr. Speaker, we do not need lessons in civility from Alfonso Gagliano's mini-me.

Nevertheless, let me be clear. This government supports the improvement of aboriginal Canadians' living conditions. That is why, thanks to an incredibly talented minister, we are reversing the Liberals' total failure to improve the living conditions of aboriginal Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, citizens of Darfur have faced years of war, strife and hardship. The international community has an obligation to contribute aid to the innocent victims of the ongoing war in that region. Canada has a long history of providing humanitarian aid to people in crisis.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Cooperation tell us what contributions the government will make to the people of Darfur?

Ted MenziesConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Cooperation

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Edmonton East for his longstanding compassion and support for the people of Darfur.

The government was quick to respond after the Darfur peace agreement was signed. In fact, on May 23, the Prime Minister, along with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of International Cooperation, announced a further $20 million for the peace process as well $20 million for humanitarian aid for the folks in that region.

Mr. Speaker, the recently issued UN report is a stinging indictment of the way past Conservative and Liberal governments have created huge holes in Canada's social safety net. The report is especially critical of Canada's treatment of single mothers. It states that women without housing are forced to give up their kids and that women cannot leave relationships due to inadequate assistance.

When will the government stand up for Canadian women and take action to end poverty and when will it increase access to safe, affordable housing?

Lynne YelichConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development

Mr. Speaker, our country is proud of its standard of living. We think the Government of Canada does have in place a range of measures to improve the social and economic well-being of Canadians, and women in particular.

I am pleased that our recent budget included a range of measures to support families with children as well as initiatives that address housing and homelessness, skills development, employment and education.

Mr. Speaker, every penny in the Conservative budget for housing was a re-announcement of money that we secured in the NDP budget. Just like under the Liberals, there is a lot of talk on housing but no action. The housing crisis in our country is an internationally recognized shame and the government is doing nothing about it.

Could the government tell us why, at a time when it has record surpluses, it can find billions to subsidize profitable oil companies, but not one new penny for affordable housing?

Lynne YelichConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development

Mr. Speaker, then I am sure the member will vote with us for budget 2006. We announced $1.4 billion for affordable housing, including $800 million to increase the supply of safe and affordable housing and up to $300 million to address the acute housing situation of the north.

I encourage the member to help us get the budget through so we can address her issues with housing.

Mr. Speaker, the constitutionality of any piece of legislation before the House is an important issue for all Canadians. Is it the practice of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and the Conservative government to certify the constitutionality of each piece of legislation when it is introduced?

Has the minister certified the constitutionality of Bill C-2, the accountability legislation?

Mr. Speaker, the government does not take accountability as seriously as its press releases indicate. It is the responsibility of the Attorney General to assure the House that all government legislation passes a constitutionality test. Everyone knows this except, apparently, the Minister of Justice.

The Law Clerk of the House of Commons says that certain sections of Bill C-2 are unconstitutional. Has the minister certified the constitutionality of each piece of legislation that he has put before the House?

However, speaking of Bill C-2, it deals with the reform of party financing legislation. Therefore, will the member propose an amendment to ban contributions to parties from children? Her party found an innovation in party financing, raising $11,000 from twin 11-year-olds. That is the new Liberal Party financing strategy.

Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, the Minister of Public Works and Government Services contradicted his parliamentary secretary, who stated in this House that no agreement had been reached with respect to the former JDS Uniphase campus, which is owned by Minto Developments. The deputy minister, David Marshall, and his assistant deputy minister, Tim McGrath, appeared before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates yesterday and admitted that the unsolicited offer, which was not publicly tendered, had been accepted at a cost of $600 million, and that the Treasury Board would approve the deal by June 15.